Car wash apparatuses are in common usage throughout the world for wet washing the exterior surfaces of various forms of automotive vehicles.
One of the most popular forms of car wash apparatus is the so called “rollover” washer which is characterized by a washing structure which moves over or around a vehicle parked in a pre-specified wash area.
In one particularly effective form of rollover car washer, a carriage moves over the vehicle along an overhead track structure and a pair of opposed nozzle spray arms pivotally mounted on the carriage act upon side and upper surfaces of the vehicle in response to linear movement of the carriage along the track structure and pivot in a butterfly fashion as the carrier reaches the respective ends of the vehicle to act upon the front and rear surfaces of the vehicle.
Whereas this particular form of rollover car wash is effective in washing relatively small vehicles such as automobiles and small trucks, problems arise when this form of rollover washer is applied to the washing of large vehicles such as large buses and large trucks. Specifically, because of the necessarily long length of the washer commensurate with the long length of the vehicles being washed, problems arise in maintaining the washing water at a desirable hot temperature as the carriage carrying the spray arms moves to a position remote from the hot water source. Further, because the washer requires an excessively long track structure to allow the carriage to traverse the entire length of the large vehicles, problems arise with respect to physically constructing the long track structure without resort to bulky and expensive designs. Further, since the spray arms for washing the large vehicles are necessarily themselves quite large and therefore quite heavy, problems arise with respect to providing adequate bearing structure to support the pivoting movement of the spray arms. Further, again due to the long length of the washer structure, problems arise in the delivery of the necessary fluids and other supplies to the carriage as the carriage moves along its lengthy path. Further, since the washer must handle a variety of large vehicles including vehicles with windshields positioned remotely from the front end of the vehicle, problems arise with respect to providing effective cleaning of the windshield surface areas.